Sunday, 19 May 2013

Birthday gingerbread train

Mr CC is very weird in that he prefers biscuits to
cake. How I find myself married to a man
with such an obvious and serious flaw is a mystery but – to quote Some Like it
Hot – nobody’s perfect! When I saw this
biscuit cutter set that allows you to build a 3D free-standing steam train I
knew I had found the design for Mr CC’s birthday cake (I’m sorry, but calling
it a ‘birthday biscuit’ is just plain wrong), for Mr CC likes trains almost as
much as he likes biscuits.

I used the recipe included with the cutter set...and that
was perhaps a mistake. It baffles me why
companies include recipes with their products that don’t quite bring out the
best in their product. Firstly, they
called it a gingerbread train recipe but it didn’t include any ginger – so I
had to amend that! Secondly, the quantities
they list to make a whole three carriage train looked mighty scanty. I doubled the quantities and still only had
enough for a two carriage train.
Thirdly, they tell you to brush the uncooked biscuits with egg yolk – I assume
to glaze the biscuit. This came out a
bit streaky, so I didn’t glaze the second batch and it looked much better. However, the gingerbread was very tasty (even
if it did puff up during baking!):

It’s like the spongier gingerbread you get at German
markets, rather than the crisp biscuit type.
Very nice texture indeed:

The big benefit with this recipe is that you can make the
dough in advance and keep it in the fridge.
I made it two days ahead although it will apparently keep for up to
fourteen days. The other benefit is that
the recipe is dairy-free – I was sceptical as to whether one could make good
gingerbread without butter, but you can!

About once a year I like to take on an ambitious (for me)
decorating project, for no reason other than to remind myself that I am not a
decorator, never will be a decorator and that watching ‘Amazing Wedding Cakes’
on the Food Network channel will never turn me into a decorator. I think this train has achieved it...I don’t
think there is a straight line on it.

If you are wondering why the loco tender has ‘4472’ on it
(or rather icing squiggles that look a bit like it if you squint), it is
because this is the number of the famous Flying Scotsman train,
the first steam loco to reach 100mph.
However hard you may fight it, you learn things like this when you are
married to a train enthusiast (and, of course, by enthusiast I mean an out-and-proud
nerd...and I wouldn’t have him any other way!)

Read my novel! Yes! I wrote it!

Look at this great website

Follow my ambitious attempt to find a recipe for a cake, biscuit, pie or tart for every single one of the 39 traditional English counties!

The Caked Crusader and Boy Wonder

Cartoon by Cakeyboi

About Me

So, the answer to the question you’re all asking: who am I? Well, a superhero never reveals their identity. I think it’s stated somewhere in the contract when you sign up for superhero-dom. Let’s just call me THE CAKED CRUSADER. By day (and night if I’m being honest) a mild-mannered City professional, but at weekends I become THE CAKED CRUSADER. Tirelessly fighting anti-cake propaganda and cake-related injustices – for SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, ALWAYS NEEDS CAKE (we’ll just skip over the fact that it’s usually me).

Batman’s got the batmobile, batcave etc. Superman does just great what with being able to fly and being really strong. Spiderman’s got that web thing going on. But I have better than them. For I have a credit card and could get one of these:

The purpose of my blog is simple – to spread the word that CAKE IS GOOD.Yes, it is calorific; that is why it tastes so nice.Yes, too much of it is bad for you; that’s what ‘too much’ means.Yes, we’re all told to eat healthily and we know that we should. But ask yourself this – and look very deeply into your soul before answering – when has a cup of tea and a carrot ever cheered you up? However, put that carrot into a cake and happiness will ensue. Quod erat demonstrandum – CAKE IS GOOD.

This site will catalogue cakes I have unleashed unto the world and my thoughts thereon.

By the way, I will never recommend how many portions you should get out of a cake because we’re all different. Plus, it will be very embarrassing when I say it serves 4 and you get 20 portions out of it.

WARNING: Too much time spent on this blog may cause hunger.

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Cake Achievement in Film and Television Arts (CAFTA)

Have you seen a cake in a film or tv show that deserves recognition? Has a cupcake upstaged a beefcake?

If so, please let me know and that cake could win a coveted CAFTA award. Email me your suggestions, with a photo of the cake if possible.

About Me

I am a 40-something Chartered Accountant working in the square mile.
My main hobbies at the moment are baking, and setting the world record for the number of cake tins owned by one person.
I spend far too much time watching Spongebob Squarepants and would love to try a Krabby Patty...I know, I know - it's not real.